“Our country plans to launch its production lines in small and medium industries in Afghanistan,” Nematzadeh said Wednesday at the opening ceremony of Iran’s third specialized exhibition in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

For this reason, Iran is going to stage another specialized exhibition on industrial and manufacturing machinery in the near future in Afghanistan, he added.

The minister said Iran is fully ready to boost economic relations with Afghanistan, calling on “the Afghan brothers” to pave the way for further mutual economic cooperation between the two countries.

Last month, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade Mojtaba Khosrotaj described the Afghan market as “strategic” for Iranian merchants.

“Although Afghanistan is not considered a new market, presence in the market is strategic for Iran because we can have economic activities there in the long term,” the deputy minister said at the time.

Back in April 2015, Iran and Afghanistan signed two cooperation agreements as part of efforts to boost relations between the two neighbors in various areas.

In a ceremony attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, high-ranking officials from the two countries singed the documents.

South Korea said on Wednesday it is boosting imports of Iranian oil, especially condensate, to meet growing demand after sanctions on Tehran were lifted.

The major Asian importer has tripled crude purchases from Iran since the lifting of sanctions in January but shipments are still far below pre-sanction levels.

“We will increase oil and natural gas liquids imports from Iran, especially Iranian condensate,” Reuters quoted South Korea’s Trade and Energy Ministry as saying.

On Monday, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran hopes to double oil exports to South Korea which is currently buying 100,000 barrels of oil a day from the Middle Eastern country.

Zangeneh hosted South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyung-hwan in his office in Tehran where they signed new documents for cooperation.

A memorandum of understanding reportedly envisages leasing out oil storage in Iran, the South Korean Trade Ministry said.

Faced with a steep decline in exports, South Korea has rushed to revive trade with Iran, sending a number of high-profile delegations to Tehran. President Park Geun-hye will also visit Tehran soon.

Iran has already ramped up production by 500,000 barrels per day and plans to add another 500,000 bpd to reach the level before 2011 when the country exported 2.5 million bpd at its peak.

On Tuesday, Director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) Mohsen Qamsari said export volumes will rise significantly this month from February.

“The difference between March and February is going to be quite tangible. The main or biggest portion of these additional cargoes is going to be destined for Europe,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Last month, Russia’s Lukoil, Spain’s Cepsa and France’s Total shipped the first oil cargoes from Iran for Europe since the removal of sanctions.

Qamsari said Iran still faces difficulties for shipments, adding “some shipping companies are somehow reluctant to come and banks also.”

Frontline, one of the world’s largest independent tanker firms, said on Tuesday securing insurance for its cargoes carrying oil from Iran was likely to take another two to three months.

“There are still some outstanding issues. But we expect that to be in place within two to three months,” Reuters quoted Frontline CEO Robert Hvide Macleod as saying.

Australia removed nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic on Wednesday after the UN nuclear agency confirmed that Tehran had scaled down its nuclear program under an agreement it reached with the P5+1 group last July, Reuters reported.

Under measures announced by the Australian government, businesses are no longer banned from doing transactions of more than A$20,000 ($14,436) with Iranian entities.

However, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said in a statement that Canberra would keep in place some non-nuclear bans, including those related to Tehran’s missile program.

Tehran has repeatedly said its missile program is defensive in nature and that it will keep its right to develop conventional weapons.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia – plus Germany started to implement the nuclear deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on January 16.

The nuclear agreement was signed on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks.

After the JCPOA went into effect, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the UN Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified Iran’s commitment to the nuclear agreement.

In its first regular report since the implementation of the JCPOA, the UN nuclear agency said last month it “has been verifying and monitoring the implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments.”